Replies

1. 
   Piccioni | Feb 01, 2008 07:59pm | #1

   Tube steel I know of has rounded corners. You want nice sharp corners on a plane.

   Maybe that would be a negative.

2. 
   RickL | Feb 01, 2008 11:00pm | #2

   Just make one and see how it works. Someone else already wrote an article on making one so I don't see how anyone could shoot down the idea on theory. If, for half the inventions out there someone asked "Do you think this will work?" most things would have been discouraged at the idea stage.

   I can't think of any reason it wouldn't. There is square edged tubing but on most plane functions rounded edges wouldn't affect most of the uses except for rabbet and shoulder planes. For general smoothing it wouldn't matter on the corners.

3. 
   chuckh | Feb 02, 2008 05:10am | #3

   I'm not very familiar with the smaller variety of this tubing.  Where I work we use some of this in our designs, but nothing under 8". 

   A couple of concerns come to mind:

   1. Can you get it in a variety of sizes (e.g. 2-1/4", 2-1/2", etc)?

   2. Can you get it in a heavy enough gauge?  The infills these guys are making have nice thick soles.

   3. Assuming that you will be cutting off one side of the tubing, internal stresses could cause the sides to spring.  

   Buying new, you may have to buy a 10 foot length.  You might want to poke around your local scrap yard.

   Did you consider channel?

   Good luck'

   -Chuck 

    

4. 
   Malcolm | Feb 02, 2008 05:16am | #4

   If the walls were thick enough you could square-off the sides, even (carefully) on a sanding wheel. No good reason why it wouldn't work, except perhaps for the quality of the steel and the work needed to get it square and true (and to cut the mouth).

   when I make brass-sided dovetailed infills I make the two sides from rectangular pieces, and shape then after dovetailing-on the sole - with my wood-cutting bandsaw. More of a challenge with steel, but not impossible.

   Malcolm

   http://www.macpherson.co.nz
5. 
   philip | Feb 02, 2008 08:09am | #5

   Arch,
   I would be more inclined to use channel iron, which is mild steel. This is made in many widths. Nice and easy to square the sides, and it is also made in various thicknesses.
   Depending on your mentality, it would also be very easy to machine it suitably using a dovetail cutter so that you could implant some false doves.....
   Seriously, the only drawback I can see with this concept is the machining of the mouth, as the sides will be restricting access if you are using a milling machine. Not so much of a problem if you are doing it by hand with files etc, especially if it is highish angle, meaning the ramp would be relatively narrow.
   To me the term "tube steel" implies thin stuff as in square tube for light frame work etc. And there is the bother of removing the unwanted fourth side.

   Philip Marcou